Sept. 5, 2008

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's and women's cross country teams will begin their seasons this weekend at the Lou Onesty Invitational. Saturday's meet will take place at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. and is hosted by the University of Virginia. The men's 8k race begins the day at 10 a.m., with the women's 6k to follow at 10:45 a.m.

During the 2008 season, the men's squad will attempt to build on their impressive performance from a year ago in which they finished second at the CAA Championships, the Patriots best finish since the 1986 season. George Mason Director of Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track and Field Andrew Gerard has set his sights on competing with perennial conference powerhouse William and Mary this season.

"The natural goal for our team this year is to break up the dominance William and Mary has shown over the conference in recent years and compete with one of the top teams in the country," Gerard said. William and Mary has won the last eight conference titles and Gerard is eager to see how his team will progress and compete with the Tribe with another year under their belts.

"We are really looking to close the gap as much as we can with William and Mary," Gerard said. "Our overriding goal is to keep improving throughout the season and peak in time for the major championship meets. Hopefully that will put us in position to compete with the best in the conference and region."

Gerard expects many of his athletes to see action in the early-season meets as preparation for the CAA Championships and the other championship meets that will take place in November. Returning to lead the Patriots once again will be Robert Krause, who finished first for Mason in every race last season except the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, where he was battling a cold. Gerard also spoke highly of Scott Tekesky, a transfer from Clemson who sat out last year, and whom he expects to be a great competitor this season for the Patriots. Tekesky was the CAA Rookie of the Year for James Madison in 2006 before the Dukes cut their men's cross country program. James Burns and James Snyder also transferred to George Mason when the James Madison program was cut and have been nice additions to the team.

"James Burns and James Snyder have each been solid guys for us, progressing well last year," Gerard said of the two returnees to the 2008 team. In addition to Burns and Snyder, a number of other Mason athletes progressed in both their training and performance as the 2007 season moved along, including Ryan Murphy and Chris Palmer, who both ran at last year's CAA Championship meet.

Gerard also expects some of his middle distance runners to appear in a few meets early in the season to get a feel for the long grind of a cross country race in hopes of preparing them to compete at the CAA Championships and beyond.

Gerard is thrilled most by the prospect of having more runners than ever that have the ability to compete at such a high level. Not only in his returnees, but also in some of his newcomers. Four freshmen that have impressed Gerard so far include Everett Hackett, Spencer Hawthorne, Henry Loehr and Robert Reynolds. Gerard believes all four have shown the talent and ability to become integral parts of the team. Another freshman, Parker Boudreau, a middle distance runner, could also develop into an integral part of the team.

For the first time since he arrived in Fairfax, Gerard will also be at the helm of the women's cross country team. In the future, Gerard would like to bring the program back to its past glory, when it finished first or second at the CAA Championships each year from 1984-89 under former head coach Norm Gordon. This year; however, Gerard will begin to put a plan in place to improve upon the team's four consecutive last-place finishes at the CAA Championships. The focus will be on each individual's improvement as the year goes on and making sure those athletes keep moving forward in their weekly performances to help make the team stronger. Gerard is most interested in seeing a great deal of individual growth among team members.

Sophomore Samantha Fickel will be the top returning runner for the women's team this season, following a freshman season in which she ran three of the team's top five times. Joining Fickel on this year's squad will be a pair of newcomers who have been standouts in practice so far.

"The two runners that have seemed to run the strongest in practice so far have been Katie Harris and Monique McKenzie," Gerard said. McKenzie is considered a middle distance specialist, but did compete in cross country in high school and will be prepared to run cross country to begin her college career.

Early in the season, Gerard expects to try a number of different combinations of runners at each meet to try and find out where his athletes are strongest and where they may need to improve in preparation for the championship season in November.

Mason will host two meets during the 2008 cross country season at Bull Run Park in Centreville, Va. - the Mason Invitational on Oct. 4 and the CAA Championships on Nov. 1. Besides this weekend's meet, the Patriots will also travel to the New Market Battlefield in New Market, Va. for the James Madison Invitational, The Blue/White Golf Course in University Park, Pa. for the Penn State National and once again to Panorama Farms for the Cavalier Open, which will take place the weekend before the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, N.C.